KKL-JNF is about to begin building an accessible multi-sensory science garden and orchard in Jordan River Village in the Lower
Galilee, a unique vacation village for children with chronic, genetic, or life-threatening illnesses and children with special needs.
Both projects will feature guidance systems using embossed signs in Braille, as well as paths with textured pavement, handrails, and ramps for
accessibility. Work at the site will begin in the next several days.
The multi-sensory science garden, which was donated by
JNF Australia (approximately NIS 1,770,000), includes an experiential park featuring an accessible playground for children vacationing in the village and their families. The garden is part of KKL-JNF’s comprehensive plan to develop Jordan River Village, strengthen Israel’s peripheral region, and contribute to the community.
The garden was planned with the following goals in mind: to enable children to learn through play, engage in experiences in ways that are appropriate to their limitations and needs, and learn about scientific and technological subjects by playing the games available in the various installations and sculptures. The play structures, which are made of recycled materials, will use mechanics, sound, and energy to create a learning experience through play and allow the general public to experience sound and play music themselves.
The multi-sensory science garden will include paved and roofed areas with approximately twenty science and music installations, paths and landscaping, covers to provide shade for the installations, garden furniture, protective railings where necessary, a
scenic lookout area and a covered sitting area, and explanatory signs and accessible content in Arabic and Hebrew.
KKL-JNF will also plant an accessible forest in the village that was donated by KKL-JNF Switzerland (approximately NIS 600,000), to serve as an experiential area for acquiring knowledge and learning about environmental protection and coexistence between people and nature. The garden will be a source of educational, learning, and experiential activity for the children staying in the village, and its fruits will be used for experiential activities as well, such as preparing natural fruit shakes. The work to be done on the orchard includes making the garden spaces accessible to the children’s special needs, planting approximately fifty fruit trees, and installing an irrigation system. The development of the space will include building a network of accessible pathways between various fruit trees, placing sitting areas along the pathways, and installing explanatory signage in three languages — Hebrew, Arabic, and Braille.
Jordan River Village is one of sixteen villages throughout the world that belong to SeriousFun Children’s Network, an organization that Paul Newman established in the United States in 1988. The Jordan River Village non-profit association was established in 2000, and the head of its board of directors is Chaim Topol.